Hot Sauce Finds: Garlic Cilantro Pepper, Ghost Pepper, and Leche de Dragon from the Hot Sauce of the Month Club

Bottom Line: The Hot Sauce of the Month Club from Heat Hot Sauce Shop offers some intriguing sauces that you will not find just anywhere at a decent price.

Each year around Christmas time, I put up a post highlighting one or more hot-sauce-of-the-month services as a possible gift option for people who like spicy food. I had not tried these out in the past (though I did check to see if they got generally favorable reviews), but this year I finally decided to check into a few. And I started off with The Hot Sauce of the Month Club from Heat Hot Sauce Shop.

That site sells any number of hot sauces, from major brands to craft makers who only do small batches. They also have their club, in which they pick a sauce or sauces and send them to you to try. You can do one at a time for as low as $14.99 or three at a time for $29.99 (one-year prepay on both of those plans), with shipping included, and you can pick the heat levels that you want. You can also choose whether you want the sauces monthly or quarterly.

I went with the three-pack quarterly and pay-as-you-go, and that cost $31.99 per shipment. They do a nice job of packing the sauces to minimize the chances of any damage in transit, and each sauce comes with a card showing the heat level and highlighting the flavors you will encounter. They also include a line with food pairings. Following is the rundown on the sauces from my first shipment:

High Desert Sauce Co. Garlic Cilantro Jalapeno: This one has a funky, grassy taste to it right away that comes from the cilantro. It’s not a flavor you usually expect in a hot sauce, and it is almost off-putting at first. But then you get that nice tang and the flavor of jalapeños, tomatillos, and garlic, with a bit of sweetness to finish things off. Each additional taste was better, but I can see where some people might not enjoy this one as much.

Heat-wise, it is definitely on the Mild on my scale side as indicated on the card. It is an interesting sauce, but it might have its limits on what it would go best with. I can see using it as a marinade and maybe pairing it with fish or other seafood (they recommend it with eggs, tacos, and roasted veggies), but this won’t go with just anything.

Formosa Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce: This rather interesting sauce has a pesto-like taste, and that comes from the rosemary, which is actually low in the ingredient list but high in the flavor profile. Then you get some of the cumin, which makes for an intriguing combination. There is not much of the taste of tomatillos, but it does have a bit of tang. And it is a thick sauce that has a definite creaminess to it (that likely comes from the oil).

The heat registers pretty quickly, and this heads toward Hot on my scale even though they show it as more of a Medium heat sauce. They recommend it with tacos and eggs, which I am not so sure about, and also with shawarma, which would be an intriguing combination. This could also be used to spice up an alfredo sauce, and I may be experimenting with that soon. It definitely has an interesting flavor, and this one may grow on me.

Heat Hot Sauce Shop Leche de Dragon: This one is made by the company running the club, and it is another interesting combination of flavors. There is not much tang, but there is some sweetness and hints of fruit. There is also some citrus in the background, and it is rich and peppery, likely from the ghost peppers added. But it has a weird sort of funkiness, and that may be the combination of carrots with fruit juice that makes this one a bit odd and almost off-putting. I would not say I dislike the sauce, but it does not really grab me, and I’m not certain how I would use it. Basically, it starts off good but does not finish well.

It does have some heat, though, getting to right around Hot on my scale. This one might be interesting to add to a margarita if you want to go for the fruity and spicy trend that has been gaining popularity. It might also be a good addition to some Caribbean dishes, or it could work well as a marinade.

Overall, I would say that the sauces I received were a bit hit-and-miss, but I am still happy with the service and will continue it for now. This is a good way to try several different sauces that you will not find on your local grocery store shelves, and for the ones that you like, you can buy more directly from the site.

You can get more info on the Hot Sauce of the Month Club here.

You can search for sauces on the Heat Hot Sauce Shop here.